What’s the Right Way to Say Porsche?

We had a brief chat recently about how to properly say the name “Audi.” For that German luxury brand, there was some legitimate debate, as Audi is a word derived from a Latin quasi-translation of the name of the brand’s founder. But for the other German luxury car brand that Americans often mispronounce, there is no such ambiguity — Porsche is a two-syllable word. It’s “PORE-shuh,” rhymes with Marsha … sort of.

Related: How Do You Pronounce Audi Properly?

Why isn’t it pronounced as a one-syllable word (“PORSH,” a softer take on the word “porch”) as many, if not most, Americans do? Well, two reasons, but the biggest one is how German words are spoken. In short, there are no “silent letters” in German like there are in English. Words like “share,” “there” or anything with an “e” on the end of it that isn’t enunciated in English generally does tend to be pronounced in German.

Secondly, unlike the word Audi, Porsche is most definitely a German word — a proper name, in fact. It’s the name of the founder of the brand, Ferdinand Porsche, who created it originally as a design and development consultancy in 1931, before his son went on to make sports cars under the Porsche name almost two decades later.

But, hey, don’t take our word for it. When asked about how to properly pronounce the brand’s name, a Porsche spokesperson told Cars.com “Oh, we have a video for that!”

So, there you have it, folks. Two syllables: PORE-shuh. Now … we need to talk about how to say “Jaguar.”

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